Trying to be different in business is wise but never overdo it. If you think you can show your audience you’re unique by not using a website as part of marketing campaigns, you may be pushing your luck a bit too far.
There are many reasons why websites are non-negotiable marketing tools, no matter your industry. Whether you’re planning your beauty salon’s brand identity or marketing a tech startup, a website must be in your business plan. Here are the seven reasons why it’s an investment you can’t avoid.
You Can’t Risk Missing Out on Potential Customers
Did you know that as of the start of 2021, almost 60% of the world’s population are internet users? And the number increases each year. That’s over 4.5 billion people and they spend an average of more than two hours a day browsing online. The customers you wish to attract are often active online, not reading a newspaper containing your ad or looking at the flyer you printed.
A website is how you engage with people you may never attract through other marketing methods. It’s also how your local community discovers their new favorite vendor. What do you do when you’re looking for a pizza place nearby or a plumber to save the day? A quick online search for a vendor ‘near me’ is the go-to solution for most of us. Similarly, your ideal customer is searching for companies like you ‘nearby’.
The number of enquiries you can garner by being on Google My Business is higher than you may think but without a website those online users won’t take you seriously. They’ll opt for the companies they can get a quick overview of by browsing their websites.
Your Reputation and Credibility Needs it
One thing all these online users are looking for is vendors they can trust. The online environment gives them access to many businesses’ information but they only want to engage with those who can give them value for money. They use a quick online research session to determine who the lucky business will be and without a website you won’t impress them.
For one thing, a website provides some proof that your company actually exists. Also, your website can communicate your professionalism and prove your skill and experience in your niche, all helpful to prompt a potential customer to engage with you.
You can take this one step further by displaying all your positive feedback and reviews on your pages. This will help you manage what your audience thinks of your company.
A Website is the Easy Marketing Tool You’ve Been Looking For
Marketing can cost a lot, be complicated and be tedious to manage, especially if you don’t have the capital to hire an expert to do it on your behalf. You can have easy marketing wins with a website, because on one platform you’re managing multiple advertising functions:
- Share new products
- Launch special offers
- Secure a sale through e-commerce websites
- Provide information about your brand to build trust in your audience
Also, it’s easy to manage because you can choose to have experts run it for you, although tasks like adding updates, blogs and new products are fairly easy to handle yourself.
Your Customers Need Answers
Part of the trust building process is your customers getting answers to their questions on topics like:
- Products
- Services
- Timelines
- Your industry certification where applicable
- Costs involved
When they have instant access to these details, the process of picking you as a preferred vendor will go so much quicker.
A Website is How You Save Valuable Time
Some of the tasks mentioned above, such as providing answers to customer enquiries, can take up a lot of time if you or a staff member does it manually and in person. Using your website as your information portal saves you valuable minutes or even hours each day, while still providing your audience with the quality customer service they require.
Your Online Marketing Saves You Money
Many marketing tools, such as printed media, can cost a lot. Also, each time something like a contact number or a product changes, you’ll need new copies of flyers or letterheads. On your website, these changes are implemented within seconds and you can often do it yourself instead of paying someone.
You—Not Your Competitor—Should Be Influencing Your Target Market
Overall, your website is how you take back control. Instead of bad reviews harming your reputation or your competitors’ websites drawing attention, you can manage some of your audience’s perceptions of you and the actions they’ll take. Put your USP on show, use impressive logos, videos and images and your audience will know who the market leader in your industry really is.
Summary
Why make your life and your business more difficult than it has to be? Use a website optimally and it will be worth every penny you invest in it. And luckily, with today’s user friendly methods to obtain or create everything from logos to stunning website pages, this can be an effortless part of your marketing campaigns. But don’t waste any more time in getting yours up and running.
Looking for help with your new website? Or perhaps to update your current one? NavaWeb can help. We offer different web design solutions for every type of budget. So, get in touch, and let’s talk about how we can help!
Author: Felix Jean
When not writing blog posts, Felix Jean plays the guitar and go bungee jumping with friends. His writing is focused on technology, design and online ecommerce. He’s a graphic designer too; likes to dabble with Adobe Illustrator to create designs for friends and colleagues.
